The Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- Barack Obama told Hillary Rodham Clinton's top financial backers Thursday that he personally has donated $2,300 to her campaign and more significantly has asked his biggest donors to help pay off her more than $20 million debt.
Obama made the announcement at a meeting with Clinton donors who have been frustrated that the Democratic presidential nominee-in-waiting had not done more to help her pay the bills even as they are expected to help fund his campaign.
The size of Obama's donation is the most he can contribute under federal law.
He received a standing ovation from the crowd of more than 200 when he said he would enlist his supporters to help pay off her debt, said Tom McMillen, a retired NBA player and former Democratic congressman from Maryland who attended. The meeting was closed to the media.
"It was really about unifying the party,'' McMillen said.
Clinton adviser Terry McAuliffe said Obama himself wrote a check to Clinton.
"When the two of them walked into the room, the room erupted,'' he said. "This campaign has ended. Hillary Clinton has said we've all got to get together.''
McAuliffe said after speaking, Clinton and Obama took questions ranging from helping with the debt to promoting a joint ticket.
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Clinton spoke to two trade groups earlier Thursday before she introduced Obama to her most loyal fundraisers. Behind the scenes, the two sides were negotiating the extent of her future involvement in Obama's campaign.
"I am asking you to do everything you can to help elect Barack Obama,'' Clinton told the American Nurses Association, a 2.9-million member group that backed her candidacy. "I have debated him in more debates than I can remember and I have seen his passion and his determination and his grit and his grace. In his own life he has lived the American dream.''
